


A Losing Battle

by Thatoneloser_kid



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, Spider-woman! Penelope
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-07-08 08:06:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 16,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19866262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thatoneloser_kid/pseuds/Thatoneloser_kid
Summary: Penelope is only sixteen, she just wants to graduate school, hangout with her best friend, fall in love, she didn't ask for the world to look to her to become Earth's next big hero after Tony died.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think? thatoneloser-kid.tumblr.com

When Penelope first ended up with powers she was terrified. 

She had woken up the morning after visiting Pym labs and could _hear_ the spider walk across her ceiling. 

Her senses were heightened, she was stronger, and she was suddenly… sticky. In a totally non-gross way, she could just stick to anything, at least anything she had tried to stick to. 

So, waking up and having super hearing, and tearing the handle from her door, which then stuck to her hand, you could understand why she freaked out.

So she did what any teenager would do. 

She ran to her best friend, sweating and babbling incoherently to the point Hope thought she was losing her mind. Which, sure, Penelope could see why, but when she hopped up and easily stuck herself to the ceiling Hope believed her. 

Hope, unbeknownst to most, was a huge superhero fan, so she was excited at the idea that her  _ best friend _ was a superhero, and after a while Penelope started to feel it, too. She was a fifteen year old with some pretty awesome abilities, that was exciting. 

So they made a suit, Penelope engineered some webbing derived from the blueprints from the webbing Pym Industries were researching (she upgraded it and made it both stronger and more flexible, it also dissolved after an hour). 

In hindsight, their first test of the webbing probably shouldn't have been from the tallest building in the city. And Penelope turned to tell Hope as much, dressed in her white and blue suit, her web shooters secured with duct tape. 

Hope merely waved her off before pushing her. 

And Penelope panicked, she was plummeting to the ground at terminal velocity after all, but then everything seemed to slow, and she closed her eyes to take a breath, and when she opened them it was like her brain was going a thousand calculations a second, and she was conscious of and an active participation in all of them. 

She acted on instinct after that, her hand raising, webbing connecting with the wall, her fingers enclosed around the webbing. Then she was swinging, her feet pattering along the ground, skidding to a halt just before she collided with a pretty girl in the local private school uniform. 

“Oh, I'm sorry,” Penelope apologised to the startled girl, who was staring at her with wide eyes. 

Penelope gave her an awkward pat before running off. 

The shooters had held up, but just barely, so the first thing they worked on after that was creating a permanent wrist housing for the cartridges Penelope had made from a few old beyblade launchers. 

And, at first, it was all fun and games, petty theft, dumb New York criminals, it was  _ easy.  _ Hope manned the police radio she stole from her mother and implomented coms in Penelope’s mask. They had a system. 

Then the aliens showed up. 

Penelope was with Hope and Landon when it happened, the comfort of her suit tight around her, then the portal open and they came through, huge worm like ships. 

She had to help, she knew that, glancing at Hope before apologising to Landon and hopping into an alleyway to change into her suit. 

Landon definitely saw her swing away. 

She locked in on the Avengers pretty quickly, all in a circle fighting off the aliens, landing softly alongside them. 

She introduced herself, and the only one who really gave her any kind of response was Thor and Captain America. 

If fighting crime was baseball, what she had done before little league and this was the world series. 

She survived, but only barely. 

Captain America gave her a pat on the shoulder and Stark tried to initiate her into the Avengers, but she was sure at least half of the bones in her body were broken, she was bloodied and bruised, she couldn't deal with that now. 

So she excused herself, hobbling off and swinging using the arm that hadn't been dislocated to Hope’s place. 

She and Landon were there, Hope rushing to Penelope as soon as she stumbled through the window, almost crumbling to the floor, but Hope caught her

“Easy, I've got you.”

Penelope pulled off her mask, revealing her bloodied face, her lips split, eye swollen shut, she felt like she couldn't breath. “I can't--it was too much, Hope. I'm not like them.”

“Sh, we will talk later,” Hope helped Penelope to her bed, reaching behind her to unzip the suit. Landon excused himself, telling the girls to text him later, pulling a sweater over her head before slowly laying her down, and Penelope groaned in pain anyway, her body tense as she settled into the bed.

“Hope,” Penelope whispered, gripping lightly onto Hope’s hand. “It was awful, Hope. People died.”

Hope raked her hand through Penelope’s hair, snagging a few times on what she was sure was dry blood. 

“You did really good out there, you saved lives.” Hope said, bracing her foot just below Penelope armpit and giving her arm a hard, swift tug. 

A large pop sounded, and Hope cringed while Penelope groaned in pain. Hope sat Penelope’s arm over her stomach. 

“Not enough,” Penelope forced out around the lump in her throat, her eyes misty. “I'm not on their level, Hope. Those guys are  _ heroes _ , I'm just a kid in a suit.”

“You  _ are  _ just a kid in a suit, but you are a  _ hero,  _ Pen. You have saved countless lives, not just by preventing crime but you gave people something to believe in.” Hope stressed. “I’m going to clean your face up, okay?”

Hope went and got a bowl of hot soapy water, and the softest flannel she could find, being as gentle with Penelope as she could while she cleaned up the dried blood littering her face. 

“Hope,” Penelope whispered, and Hope brought her attention to Penelope, her features seeming to break at the sight of Penelope. 

“What did you see?” 

“Nothing,” Penelope’s voice cracked. “They were coming from nothing.”

Penelope crashed not long after that, waking with a start after having a dream about the portal, she had gotten too close whole on the back on one of the ships, and she didn't see much of anything, just endless black, and that was terrifying. 

She was still in a lot of pain, but she could get out of bed on her own and limp into the bathroom to shower, 

Hope was up when she got back, standing by the window. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I have been hit by a thousand buses while an advanced alien race pummelled me over and over.” Penelope tried to joke, but Hope didn't laugh, instead slowly making her way closer, then wrapping her arms around Penelope softly. 

Penelope was a little confused at first, then melted into it, there had always been something comforting about Hope. She was strong, fierce, loyal, just someone you  _ wanted  _ in your corner, someone Penelope looked up to in a way. 

“You scared me, Pen.” 

“Yeah, it was scary,” Penelope said, allowing Hope to lead her to the bed, both lying down, Penelope cuddled up to her side. 

They were silent for a while, Hope running her hands through Penelope’s damp hair. 

“What do I do now?” Penelope whispered. 

“What you've always done.” Hope said. “Just  _ be the _ friendly neighbourhood Spider. They need that now more than ever.”

“Stark wants me to join the Avengers,” Penelope said, peering up at Hope, who noted just how small Penelope seemed in this moment, how child like. “I can't do that.”

“So don't,” Hope said simply. “Like I said in the beginning, the only obligation you have to do not do evil with these powers, you don't  _ need  _ to help anyone. You owe them nothing.”

Penelope hummed, because, while Hope was right, morally, Penelope felt like she owed them everything. She was given this power, she was supposed to help defend Earth, she just wasn't on par with their mightiest heroes, especially when she would have to get up soon and struggle through a chemistry paper she had due tomorrow. 

After the attack on New York Penelope tried to push it out of her mind. 

She helped rebuild as Penelope, she tried to build morale as the spider, she focused on school, maintaining her straight A's, and she crushed on a girl. 

Her name was Josie Saltzman, and, if Penelope was honest, she had crushed on this girl for years now, but it had only been forced to the surface after she ended up spending time with her at one of the homeless shelters Penelope had been working at. 

It was kind of pathetic, Penelope could admit that, the staring across the canteen, or staring at the back of her head in physics class. 

And sometimes she would find Josie looking at her, too. Or she would offer Penelope a little smile as they walked past, a glance over her shoulder in class, the placing a pencil on her table when Penelope had stumbled in after a long night of patrolling. 

She bumbled her way through the first few days at the homeless shelter before she and Josie fell into an easy friendship. 

Josie would laugh at Penelope’s awful jokes, they would giggle at dumb stuff, do homework together when it wasn't particularly busy, and Josie never questioned when Penelope would rush off after getting a text from Hope about crime nearby. 

Penelope had to wonder why the daughters of a multimillionaire went to public school, why Josie spent her free time in a homeless shelter when she could be doing literally anything else, it just made Penelope fall harder for Josie, especially when she found out a good portion of the supplies came from Josie’s own pocket. 

“You know,” Josie started one day while they were in the back doing physics homework. “If you were to go to the labs, I'm sure they would give you an internship.”

Penelope glanced up at Josie. “You mom’s labs?” 

“Yeah,” Josie hummed, looking up and smiling at Penelope. “You're smart, beyond anything I've seen from the people there  _ now.”  _ Penelope focused on  _ not  _ blushing at the compliment. “You're going to change the world some day, Park.”

_ That  _ made Penelope blush. 

She could only hope she changed it for the better. 

Penelope was just trying to be a teenager. She was just trying to get homework done, her fun with her best friend, try not to embarrass herself in front of Josie. 

Then Stark happened. 

The first contact by him happened six months after the battle of New York, Penelope had just gotten back from walking Josie home, a spring in her step as she entered her room, skidding to a halt when she saw it sitting on the bed. 

It was a black briefcase, ‘Stark industries’ obnoxiously on the front.

“Mom?” Penelope peeked out of her room, her mom's head appearing from the kitchen. 

“Yeah, sweetie?” 

“Has anyone stopped by?”

Her mother shook her head, “Not since I got home,” she said. “Is everything okay, honey?”

“Yes, yeah.” Penelope forced a smile. “I'm fine.”

Vanessa nodded. “Your brother needs help with that project, are you free?” 

“Yeah, just give me five.”

Penelope quickly closed the door behind her, rushing over to the case and opening it, stumbling back and onto her ass when a hologram of Stark appeared and started talking. 

“Sh, keep it down,” Penelope hushed, grabbing the case and swinging out the window, up the side of the building to the roof. 

The case, as it turned out, had a suit in it. It wasn't any suit, but a nanotech suit, with a bunch of technology built into the mask, and it came in a container small enough that she could wear it as a necklace. 

She put the necklace on, the spider (inconspicuous) hanging at her breast bone. She pressed it against her chest, and the nanobots swarmed her body, covering her in her armour. Then the eyes seemed to scan, pointing out where police incidents were in what was at least a five block vicinity. 

Stark explained the tech in the suit, the cloaking, the infrared scanner, the ‘extra legs’ (Penelope didn't want to know what  _ that  _ was), as well as the ability to change and customize the suit. 

Penelope quickly took it off and dropped it onto her bed, texting Hope to come over later before settling on the floor of the living room with her brother to help him with his science fair project. 

She was leaning against the sofa later that night, just by her mother's leg, Odie asleep on their mother's lap while she ran her fingers through his hair, occasionally doing the same with Penelope. 

“So,” Vanessa started. “Are you going to tell me about the girl?” 

That took Penelope by surprise. “Girl? What girl?” 

“The one Lewis has seen you spend a lot of time with at the shelter.”

Penelope rolled her eyes. “She's just a friend,” Penelope shrugged.

Her mother scoffed, playfully pulling at her daughters ear. 

“Ouch, ma!” 

“That's for lying.”

“I'm not,” Penelope argued, huffing when her mother flickered her ear with time. “Ma!” 

Her mother leveled her with a look. 

“ _ Fine,”  _ Penelope huffed. “There is a girl, her name’s Josie.”

“Josie, huh? That wouldn't be one of the twins you've been at school with all your life?”

Penelope looked down at her hands and nodded. 

“Not surprising, how you were with her was actually what tipped me off that you were into girls, too.” Vanessa said. “Are you going to ask her out?” 

“I don't know, ma. She's… good.” Penelope sighed. “I just don’t think she will like someone like me.”

“Someone kind? Sweet? Obnoxiously smart?” her mother paused, something crossing her features. “Alteristc to a fault?”

Penelope was touched that that was how her mother saw her, even if she may be biased. “I don't know, she just has all this money, you know? And I don't care about that stuff but people who have it do.”

Her mother hummed, scratching at Penelope’s scalp comfortingly. “She's sweet, that Saltzman girl, maybe you aren't giving her enough credit.”

Penelope knew she was right, Josie wouldn't give a damn about the fact Penelope shared a small apartment in Queens with her single mother and kid brother. But Josie Saltzman scared her, she had so much power over Penelope and they weren't even dating. 

“You are good enough, kid, how much money you have doesn't matter, what matters is your core morals and values, and you are  _ good _ .” Vanessa said. “And I'm proud that who you are today is at least partly down to me.”

Penelope let her head fall back against her mother's leg, offering her a smile. “It's all because of you, ma.”

“Give the girl a chance, kid.”

Hope showed not long after that, totally geeking out at the case and suit. 

“It's so cool, and it looks so good.”

“Yeah,” Penelope pulled off the necklace and throwing it into the case. “I'm not keeping it.”

“What?” Hope frowned, following Penelope as she made her way over to her laptop. “Why?” 

“It’s full of tech, he will be watching me, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was a control switch built in.” Penelope said. “Besides, if I take that then I will end up an Avenger, and I'm not ready for that.”

Hope tutted, glancing at the case. “I guess. Cool suit, though.” 

“Yeah,” 

Stark didn't give up, though, even having tea with her mother while she was out. 

She finally conceded, but only agreed to intern at Stark industries, helping build technology that Tony was using to help defend the planet, because, apparently, aliens enjoyed picking on Earth. 

It was nice, working alongside Tony, who, at first, was cold, strictly work, but he started to warm up to her when Penelope saved Pepper during a Hydra attack on Avengers Tower, he became somewhat of a father figure to her. 

Which was why she couldn't really say no to him when he asked her to help out with bringing in Cap and his guys after they went rough. 

That was the first time she came up against other heroes, and she held her own for the most part, though she was just a kid, and she was new to this, so she still got her ass kicked in the end. 

She spent most of the ride home with her tail tucked between her legs, firmly put in her place of being ‘just a kid’. Then Stark placed a hand on her shoulder and told her that she really held her own, that she did good, which made her feel a little better. 

“So,” Josie started while they done homework the following day. “I heard you were doing an internship with Stark.”

“Yeah, I'm helping out with the world aid project.” Penelope said. “You're not a huge fan, right?” 

“I just don't trust him.” Josie shrugged. “He was a war mongered for years, his dad, too, then he just wasn't? I don't buy it.”

“People change,” 

“He caused Ultron.” Josie frowned. 

“He was just trying to protect people, he thought putting a suit of armour around the world would help fight off those things that almost leveled New York.” Penelope argued. “He's a good man. He doesn't do himself any favours, I know that, but he is trying to do what's best for everyone.”

“I just don't trust him,” 

Penelope understood completely, Tony wasn't the most trustworthy person to people who didn't know him. 

“I get that,” 

“Do you? Trust him, I mean.” 

Penelope nodded slowly. “I've spent time working with him. I trust him.”

Josie eyed her for a second before nodding. “Then there must be something redeeming about him.”

The thing Penelope realised about Josie was that it was impossible not to love her. Hope and Josie became best friends quickly after meeting, Landon and Josie stuck up a nerdy bromance over Skyrim, Rafeal had a crush on Josie, she was pretty sure MG did to. 

Penelope can't say she really blamed them. 

What threw Penelope was that Josie always seemed to seek her out. 

In the school hallways, while she was being shamelessly hit on my Rafeal, while they hung out in a group. And it was a little overwhelming sometimes. 

“You've been so busy lately,” Josie commented, both girls lying on Penelope’s bed, staring at the projected stars on the ceiling. 

She had been, crime was at an all time high right now. Penelope blamed the heat. 

“Yeah, I'm sorry, school and the internship has been a lot.” Penelope let her head loll to the side. “I'm trying to make more time for the shelter.”

“You're doing your bit with Stark. My mom heard about the water machine you came up with? The one that recycles rainwater into a water fountain.” Josie turned to smile fondly at her. “I told you you were going to change the world one day.”

“It's something that has been a long time coming.”

“Still,” Josie’s voice was soft, her eyes adoring as they flickered over Penelope’s features. “It is really impressive.”

Penelope smiled turning onto her side to face Josie. “Why did it take so long for us to be friends?” 

“You're kind to scary, Penelope.” Josie laughed, rolling onto her side, leaving very little room between the girls.

“I am not,”

“You really are.” Josie argued. 

“I'm nice, I think.”

“Nice? Definitely. Intimidating, absolutely.” Josie said. “It's not you, you, as a person, are- well, it's kind of unfair for your to have the personality  _ and  _ the looks. But when people first meet you? It's totally intimidating.”

“You think I'm pretty?” Penelope said with that faux bravado.

Josie hummed. “I think everyone thinks you're pretty, Pen. But what a lot of them don't see if you as a person.” Josie said. “I think that's the most beautiful thing about you.”

Penelope was a little stunned at that. 

“No one has ever said anything like that to me before,” Penelope admitted in a whisper. “Since I was a kid, it is as always my looks.”

“Which really sucks, because there is an endless list of amazing things about you. My personal top three are your shitty dad humour, how you seem to be able to just learn from spending five minutes looking at something, and how sweet you are with your little brother.” Josie said. “Also, your eyes.”

Penelope was thankful for the joke, because she had no idea what she was supposed to say to that. 

But they sobered quickly, and that left them just staring at each other, Josie with the softest smile on her lips. 

Penelope wanted nothing more in this moment than to kiss Josie Saltzman, and she probably would have had her brother not came rocketing into the room telling her dinner was ready. 

The first time she brought Josie over she was a little self conscious, she had  _ seen  _ Josie's place, her foyer was bigger than Penelope’s entire house, but Josie didn't even seem to notice, her eyes wide as she took in everything about Penelope's childhood room. 

It was a surprise visit, so Penelope hadn't had time to pick up her suit, which was half inside her closet (she may be a superhero but she was still a teenager, okay? She was messy) but Josie was so distracted by the stretch of wall by her window covered in her brothers drawings that she didn't even notice Penelope kick it into the closet. 

Her mother was quite taken by Josie, who was all charming smiles, and ‘miss’ and ‘ma’ma’. She even offered to help cook dinner, which Penelope’s mom jumped on, and that made Penelope nervous, especially when she was waved out of the kitchen to help her brother with homework. 

Her mom and Josie were giggling as they brought out the food, both shaking their heads when Penelope asked what they were laughing at. 

“I think momma stole your friend,” Odie commented from his spot slung over Penelope’s shoulder. 

“I do, too, bud.”

Her mother proceeded to embarrassed Penelope through dinner, and whenever Josie was over, but it made Josie laugh, and even if it was at her own expense, Penelope was happy about that. 

She wasn’t an Avenger, she helped out with Stark tech, and around Avengers HQ, but she didn't suit up and go out when Ultron happened. She was content where she was, what she was doing. 

Then Thanos happened. 

Penelope was with Josie went it happened, she had this grand plan of asking her out as they took the long way back to Josie’s home, cutting through the park. 

Josie seemed into it, giggling at everything she was saying, not moving away when their hands brushed together. 

Then, of course, the ships appeared, and Penelope was thrown right back into the battle of New York. 

“What the hell is that?” Josie said, but Penelope recognised it, the shell was too similar to the worms from before. These weren't good guys. 

“Look, I've gotta go,” Penelope turned, taking a hold of Josie’s upper arms. “Get home.  _ Now.” _

_ “ _ What? Where are you going?”

“To get my brother.” Penelope answered. “Do you trust me?” 

Josie nodded without any hesitation. 

“Go home and get everyone to the safest place you know.” Penelope said. “I think this is going to be bad.”

And it was, she somehow ended up in space. 

_ “You,”  _ Stark snapped when he spotted her on the ship. “You didn't want to be a part of this, how did you end up here?”

“This felt worse somehow.” Penelope answered, “I want to help.” 

“Any other time I would argue but we are facing the extermination of literally half of all life in the universe. I will take everything I can get.”

“Cool,” Penelope nodded, before it really hit her what he had said. “Wait, what?” 

There was too much to really take in, she was somehow fighting on  _ another planet _ , then they almost won until Peter Quill happened, and Thanos was gone, then so was she, stumbling into Tony’s arms and begging him to take care of her mother and brother. 

Tony apologise for dragging her into it, she didn’t get the chance to tell him that she was actually honoured to fight alongside him and the rest of the heroes. 

There was nothing, just endless black, then she was back, swinging through a portal to what use to be Avengers HQ. 

Stark was surprisingly happy to see her, she thought she had only been gone for a few minutes, pulling her into a hug and holding her tight as she babbled about that fact that, according to Strange, it had been five years. 

Then they were fighting Thanos, and the Black order, and Penelope got to meet Captain Marvel and Valkyrie (who both later turned her into a bumbling mess). 

They weren't winning, not really, she was bloodied and bruised, everyone was, then it all seemed to stop as Tony stood with the gauntlet, giving the perfect line of ‘I'm Iron-Man’, which made Penelope smile, thinking back to the whirlwind after he said that the first time. 

Then he snapped, and The Black order started to disappear, but the power was too much, the gamma waves tearing Tony up, he was dying, that much was obvious. 

Penelope stumbled on uneasy legs as she ran over to him, dropping to her knees alongside Pepper. 

Her flashed her that cocky smile, giving her a weak punch on the arm. “You did good today, kid.” he said. “I feel good about leaving the world in the hands of someone like you.”

“No, you can't. I'm not- I'm not you.”

“I think that's a good thing,”

By the time she got back to Avengers Tower she was a mess, having watched someone she had become so close to, someone you looked up to, someone who was like a father figure, die? That hurt, and knowing they lost some of Earth’s best heroes? That was scary. 

Carol didn't let her leave straight away, patching up her wounds before sitting down with her and telling her she was impressed by what she has seen out there. Penelope would be flattered is she wasn't so numb. 

She got home in record time, finding her mother in the living room, cradling her kid brother, her mother looking older than Penelope remembered. 

“Ma?” 

Her mother's head snapped to her, then she had both of them in a hug, muttering something about five long years. 

She explained everything, her being the spider, the battle of New York, space, Thanos, everything. 

And her mother hugged her tightly, claiming to already know she was the spider. 

Penelope headed for Hope’s place early the following morning. 

Hope was the same age as she had been, meaning she got snapped, too, but it had been a day since they had been back, so she looked relieved to see Penelope. 

“Fuck, I thought you had been killed.”

“Almost,” Penelope laughed, hugging Hope tight, ignoring how her whole body seemed protest. “I'm so glad you're okay.”

“Me?” Hope snapped, punching Penelope’s arm. “You went to fucking space, Park! What the fuck?” 

“How do you know that?” Penelope frowned, Hope punching her again. “I only fought a  _ mad titan _ , Hope. It isn't like every goddamn cell in my body is aching.”

“You were all over the news, climbing into the ship then it was just gone.” Hope explained. “What  _ happened?”  _

Penelope explained it all,  _ again _ , but this time completely broke down, because it was too much. She was only sixteen, how was she supposed to deal with all of this?

Next stop was Josie’s place. 

It was a tall blonde that answered the door, and it took a short while for Penelope to register just  _ who  _ it was. “Lizzie?” 

“Penelope Park,” Lizzie greeted, almost kindly, smiling at her. “Good to see you back.”

“You- how  _ old  _ are you?” 

“Twenty one,” Lizzie said. “I wasn't snapped.”

“Oh,”

“But you don't care about that,” She laughed, stepping aside. “Up the stairs, go left then it's second on your right, she shouldn't be busy.”

Penelope took the stairs two at a time, lifting her hand and knocking on the door without much thought. 

Then Josie opened the door, looking much the same as she had when Penelope had left that day. 

“Pen?” Josie sounded relieved. 

“Hey, Jo,” Penelope caught Josie when she rushed into her arms. 

“I called.” Josie murmured against her neck. “A few times, I didn't think you made it back, I thought you were dead.”

“No,” Penelope hummed, smoothing down her hair. “No, I'm sorry it took so long to get here.” 

“That's okay,” Josie pulled her inside, sitting her on the bed. “Are you okay?” 

“I'm good, you?” 

“Yeah,” 

“Your sister is, like, an adult now.”

“Dude, it is so weird.” Josie whispered. “She's, like, CFO now. Has her life together, she's  _ married _ .”

“And we're technically still high schoolers.

Josie laughed. “You remember that day we walked in the park?” 

“Like it was yesterday,” Penelope grinned crookedly. “Because it kind of was.”

“You took off, then you were gone for the days leading up to the snap, where did you go?”

“I was helping my mom,” 

Josie didn't believe her, but she hummed anyway. “Okay,”

“Do you remember anything? From the past five years?” 

“Nothing, I just remember feeling weird, then my hand was disappearing. Then I was suddenly back in my living room with Lizzie, who was totally different.” Josie explained. “You?”

God, Penelope wanted to tell her everything. About Thanos, and Titan, and  _ almost  _ being good enough to stop it in the first place. She wanted to tell her about the battle at Avengers HQ, traveling space, fighting aliens, meeting Captain Marvel and Valkyrie , meeting Thor, Banner, Steve. Watching a man grow to ten times his size, and watching Wanda take on an army aliens like it was child's play. She wanted to talk about the fear of fighting alongside these heroes, how much pressure it was to be there. She wanted to talk about Tony Stark, who Josie wasn't a huge fan of, she wanted to tell her how he had given his life to save everyone, snapping Thanos and his men out of existence. How she had watched him die, how much it  _ hurt  _ that he was gone. She wanted to talk about the pressure in her chest, because a lot of the heroes were gone now; Tony dead, Cap retired, the guardians and Thor had gone into space, Captain Marvel had also gone into space, Romanoff was dead, Vision dead. 

But she just smiled instead, shaking her head. “Nothing.”

“I mean, part of me is glad you were snapped.” Josie shrugged coyly. “If you didn't you would be twenty one and I would still be sixteen.”

Penelope paused, eyeing Josie for a few seconds. “And that would be bad?”

“I would say so,” Josie hummed. 

Penelope nodded slowly. “Look, that day at the park-” Penelope stopped, tilting her head to face her ear toward the open window, registering the sound of sirens. 

“Penelope?” Josie said unsurely. 

“Sorry,” Penelope shook her head, she had just helped save the universe, she could take a little time off from petty crime. “Yeah, I just-” Penelope tried to ignore everything outside, bringing her eyes back to Josie, who was watching her expectantly. Then she thought of Stark, and how Pepper had been put in danger, and the stories of Clint keeping his family secret. She couldn't do that to Josie. “I just enjoy doing homework with you.”

“Oh,” Josie frowned, like that hadn't been what she had expected. “Yeah. I mean, me too.”

Penelope nodded, standing quickly. “Thank you for letting me in, but I really need to get going.” she said, heading for the window. 

“Are you going to go out the window?”

“Right, no,” Penelope laughed, spinning on her heels and heading for the door. “Of course not.”

“Penelope,” Josie stood quickly when Penelope reached for the handle. “You know you can talk to me, right? If you need to.”

Penelope kept her eyes on the door for a second, schooling her expression before turning to Josie with a forced smile. “You too, Jo.”

The swing home was horrible, she was still in pain from the battle, but when she did get home she fell into bed, falling asleep within seconds. 

Then there was the nightmares, and she done what any kid would do, she crawled into bed with her mom, who lulled her back to sleep. 

It took her a few days to even get herself out of bed, only moving when Hope came over and  _ forced  _ her out of bed. 

“Go do something, fight crime, go to the shelter,  _ something _ .” then she paused, as if thinking of her next words. “They didn't die for you to wallow in pity that it wasn't you.”

And she was right, of course she was, she had spent the past week wonder  _ why  _ it hadn't been her. Had they looked out for her more because she was a kid? She knew Carol had had her back a lot in the beginning of the fight. But she wasn't Stark, she wasn't as  _ good  _ as Stark, he could protect the world, Penelope could barely keep track of Queens. 

She didn't deserve to be here, but Hope was right, she  _ was  _ here, she had no right to squander that. 

So she threw herself back into being the hero the city needed, she petroled every waking moment, she done charity nights with her mom for people who didn't have a place to stay since the snap, she worked at the shelter during quiet times. 

She done press, or tried, but all of the questions were about Tony, or if  _ she  _ was going to be the new head of the Avengers, or who was going to protect the planet, what was stopping Thanos from happening again, what was stopping someone worse from come, who was going to replace Iron-Man. 

And it was too much for her. 

She stumbled through the curtain and out the door, thwipping down the street. 

She didn't even know what her plan was, and it wasn't a conscious thought that she would go to Josie, but a few minutes later, she landed on her balcony and dropped her suit instantly. 

She knocked lightly on the door, and Josie startled, whipping around to face her, a little frown forming when she realised who it was. 

“Penelope?” she sounded confused. “What are you doing here? How did you get up here?” 

Penelope would answer her, but right now, she couldn't breathe.

“I can't breathe,” She gasped out. “They all- and there is no one- and I can't  _ breathe.” _

“You're having a panic attack,” Josie's voice was soft as she took a step closer. “Can I touch you?” Penelope gave her a jerky nod and Josie placed her hands on her upper arms. “Come inside, sit down. You're okay, you're going to be okay. It may not seem like it now but this will pass.”

Penelope let herself be lead inside, the questions swimming around her head, the comments online, the light leaving Tony’s eyes, Thanos dominating Cap, Thanos taking down Carol. And they were right, the comments,  _ she  _ couldn't protect the Earth, not from a small threat and certainly not from a threat the size of Thanos. 

“I can't breathe, Jo.” Penelope stressed. “It won't let me,” 

“What won't?” 

“The pressure,” Penelope motioned to her own chest with a shaky hand. 

“Okay,” Josie hummed. “Hey, you remember last year, or six year ago, I suppose. We went to the outskirts of town, broke into an abandoned farm house? We spend most of the night stargazing on the roof until it started raining. Then we went inside, found a place that wasn't leaky, and listened to the rain?”

Penelope frowned, but nodded. 

“You told me that night that was the safest you had felt in a long time.” Josie said. “Think about that night, and all the other nights.”

She tried, she really did, but bad thought kept pushing through. 

But Josie kept talking, about the past, about what she was up to, about going back to school, and Penelope found herself relaxing at the sound of her voice. 

Josie laid her down when she calmed down enough, disappearing to get her water before settling down beside her. 

“Are you okay now?” 

“No,” Penelope whispered. “But I don't feel like I'm going to pass out now, so, thank you.”

“What happened?” 

“Everything just got too much,”

Josie didn't ask any more questions, simply pulling Penelope in and rubbing her back until she fell asleep. 

Penelope wasn't even an Avenger, now the world was looking to her to be  _ the _ Avenger, and, for some reason, Stark thought she was good enough, too. 

Happy was the first to make contact, Penelope had honestly thought it would have been Carol, or maybe Pepper, not Happy. 

It was three weeks after the battle, and she was set to start back to school with her classmates that hadn't been snapped, when she got home from patrol with the intention of going straight to bed. 

Her stomach dropped when she spotted Happy sitting on the floor playing with her brother. 

“What do you want?” she asked, ignoring the scolding from her mother. 

“I have something for you, Tony wanted you to have them.”

Glasses. 

Starks ugly, obnoxious looking glasses. 

She looked just as dumb as he did with them on. 

She picked up the note inside. “You are good enough. Believe in yourself, just not to the extent of being a narcissist, like me. Just say Edith.”

The glasses lit up at the last word, and Penelope almost jumped out of her skin. 

“Conducting retinal scan.” the glasses said, before her own face appeared on the lens. “Good evening, Miss Park.”

“Uh, hi… Edith?” Penelope said unsurely. “What is this?” 

“I'm Edith, I am your personal interface to all of Mr Stark’s security and protocols.”

“Wait, what?” Penelope frowned. “I'm  _ sixteen,  _ you can't give me access to that.”

“Mr Stark has already given authorisation.” Penelope didn't know what to do, so she pulled the glasses off quickly, leaving them sitting on her bed as she grabbed her phone. 

**“Dude, Lizzie Saltzman is, like, twenty one now.” Hope greeted. “Shame, I had the biggest crush on her.”**

“I have unlimited access to  _ everything  _ Tony Stark ever made, including a multi billion dollar security system.” Penelope said. “And you  _ liked  _ Lizzie Saltzman?” 

**“That is irrelevant. You _what?”_**

“Stark gave me a thing called Edith, and it gives me access to  _ everything  _ Tony had ever done.” Penelope explained. “What do I do with it?” 

**“What do you mean what do you do with it? You build it into your suit is what you do with it.”**

“It is a lot of pressure, dude. I could destroy the earth just by telling the glasses to do so.”

“ **You won't,” Hope scoffed. “This is good. You were worried about not being good enough, now you have war machines and drones in your corner.”**

Okay,  _ that  _ was somewhat comforting.

She kept the glasses, but managed to transfer the Edith database to her suit, which proved to be infinity more useful than her previous software. 

The first time Penelope met Josie as the Spider it was at a charity event at the shelter. 

Her mother was there, like she always was, she was the face of the charity. She was running late, swinging as quickly as she could through the city, pulling herself through an open window, stumbling a little on her feet but she managed to stop herself from barrelling right into Josie. 

“Oh, hi,” Josie greeted. “You're late.”

“I am,” Penelope nodded, bouncing lightly in her toes, holding a hand out to Josie, her other hand pressing against her chest. “Spider.” 

Josie smiled. “Josie Saltzman.”

“Well, where do you want me, miss Saltzman.”

“Corporal Park is already out there, you should join her.”

“Right, of course.” she nodded, turning to the curtain and taking a breath, this was the first time she had been to something like this since her panic attack. 

“Spider,” Penelope glanced back at Josie, who offered her a calming smile. “Thank you, for everything you did. I know no one really knows the half of it, but I know it must have been rough.”

That surprised Penelope, she had had a lot of questions, statements, but no one had said thank you. 

“Uh, yeah, sure.”

Josie nodded, with a little smile. 

She tried her best, she did, but it was the same questions, and this time it seemed more aggressive so she panicked again. 

She ended up on the roof, just barely keeping the panic attack at bay. 

“Hey,” Penelope didn't startled at the voice, but she hadn't heard Josie coming, too far inside her own head. 

“I'm sorry, I panicked.” Penelope said, her head lowering in shame. 

“That's okay. It's not fair the things they ask you, or ask from you.”

“I understand. They lost Stark, and Cap, and a lot of their heroes are off Earth. So I understand, they need someone. But that's not me.” Penelope said. “I'm not like them, I'm just-- I'm not on their level.”

“I don't know, I would trust the world to you if we were attacked.” Josie said, moving to sit beside Penelope, offering her a little smile when, on instinct, Penelope extended her arm to prevent her from falling off the roof. “But it is a lot of pressure, I understand why you panicked.”

“I'm afraid.” Penelope admitted in a whispered. “That I am going to be the one who has to take control for the next big threat. I can protect New York, I can do petty crime, but someone like Thanos? I can't do that alone.”

“You can’t, but neither could Stark, Or Captain America, that’s why they brought you in. And, personally, I don’t think that was fair because, and no offence, it is kind of obvious you are just a kid.”

“What?” Penelope’s head whipped to Josie. “No. I’m not.”

Josie rolled her eyes. “Fine. But what you need to remember is that those guys have been fighting crime since I was a kid. Hell, Captain America fought Nazis, you can’t be expected to be good at this after doing it for, what? A year? God, the fact that you held your own against Thanos was incredible.”

Penelope’s shoulders raised as she sighed, looking down at her feet. “I just wish I had someone to tell me what to do, that’s what Mr Stark did.”

“Just think what would Tony Stark do, then to the opposite.” Josie joked and Penelope huffed out a laugh.

“I think you’re right.” Penelope hummed. “I just can’t  _ take  _ those questions anymore.”

“So don’t,” Josie shrugged. “Take photos, do events, but avoid the media.”

“It’s not just them, online is worse. And not to sound like a child but people are fucking mean.’

“Yeah, they really can be.” Josie agreed. “But you’re doing good, and  I bet you don’t have to do anything, this is all off your own back, you don’t owe them anything.”

“I have this power, I need to use it for good.”

“You don’t,” Josie argued. “Just don’t used it for evil,” She reasoned, like Hope had when she first got the powers. “But I am glad you do what you do.”

Sirens caught Penelope’s attention then. “Edith, what's going on?”

“Fire on third avenue,”

Penelope nodded and stood. “I've gotta go, there's a fire.” Penelope said, offering her hand to Josie, helping her to her feet. “But thank you, miss Saltzman, for the talk.”

“No problem,” Josie let Penelope keep ahold of her hands as she lowered her to the ground, her feet safely on the roof. 

“Goodnight,” Penelope nodded once, before hopping off the roof and swinging to the fire. 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Penelope had papers scattered all over the floor when her mom got home from work, all old projects from Stark Industries. 

“What're you doing, Penny?” 

“I'm trying to up the security, I'm trying to make myself back up since we are kind of low on that right now.” She said, scribbling on a file about Project Junior, that one seemed promising.

“Are you ready for school?” she asked, moving to the kitchen area where Penelope had left overs heating in the oven for her. 

“Oh, I'm not going back.”

Her mother was in the doorway in a shot, levelling her with a look. “Excuse me?” 

“What's the point, you know? I need to protect New York, and I  _ have  _ a job at Stark Industries. Why go back?” 

Her mother stared at her for a second, shaking her head. “You're going back.”

“But ma,” Penelope argued, following her mom when she disappeared out of the room. “I would be more use on the streets, or at the labs. I can do good.”

“You may have been to space but you are going to graduate high school, Penelope.”

“But ma!” 

“No buts!” Vanessa cut her off. “I don't care if you are a superhero, if you have saved the world, I am your mother, you will do as I say.”

Penelope deflated. “Fine,” 

She trudged back into the living room to get back to her files. 

There was something solemn about the first day back at school, the place seemed quieter than Penelope remembered. 

She sat with Josie, Hope and Landon, because Josie didn't have Lizzie now. But she spent most of her time hunched over files that she probably shouldn't be taking to school with her. She planned on going to the labs tonight to start up project Junior again, as well as make a few modifications to her suit. 

That was her  _ plan  _ but when Josie leaned closer, asking if she wanted to go to the arcade, Penelope couldn't really say no. Especially not when she glanced up and Josie was so close. 

So, instead of going to the lab to work on her taser webbing she ended up racing Josie on one of those arcade machines, or shooting zombies, which Penelope was now obnoxiously good at, even when she tried to dumb down her powers. 

Penelope got three levels further than Josie did before she gave up entirely, slipping the gun back into the holder. 

“What're you doing? You still have full health.” 

“I was bored,” Penelope shrugged, turning to Josie. “Skee ball?” 

“Never played,” Josie flashed her a crooked grin. “Will you stand behind me? Show me how.”

“I call bullshit on the never playing thing.” Penelope offered up her hand with an arched eyebrow. “But I don't mind showing you.”

And she did, and it was a little awkward because Josie was taller than her, but she didn't care. She was close to Josie, who glanced back at her and gave her a soft smile that made Penelope swoon. 

Then, of course, Josie kicked her ass at Skee ball. 

Penelope decided she was going to tell Josie tonight. Everything in her was telling her it was a bad idea, but the difference between herself, and Tony and Clint was that she had a secret identity, they didn't. Besides, she was done pushing her feelings away, she couldn't live like that. 

So she walked Josie home, her hands stuffed into the pockets of her pants as they strolled through the park. 

“Jo? Can I tell you something?” Penelope asked. 

“Anything, Pen, you know that.”

“Okay,” Penelope stopped walking, waiting for Josie to turn to her. “The thing is, Jo, and I don't want this to get between us, because you are the best friend I've ever had, don't tell Hope. Who had a crush on your sister, by the way, can you believe that?” She didn't miss Josie’s fond smile at her rambling. “Anyways, I wanted to tell you this sooner, but I couldn't, and I just- I just need you to know that I-” 

“Am the spider,” Josie finished when Penelope didn't. 

Penelope's eyes widened, shaking her head on instinct. “What?” Penelope scoffed. “No, of course not. Why would you think that?” 

“Well, it is kind of obvious,” Josie shrugged. “You were gone on the days leading up to the snap, and you came back and there was just… something. It was obvious you had been through something. You had a panic attack then a few days later the spider did, too. Not to mention you wear a spider emblem around your neck.”

Penelope frowned, taking the necklace between her fingers. “Tony gave me this.”

“Oh, and you work for Stark, and so does the spider.” Josie motioned to Penelope. “Dude, I've known for a while. I've been sure since the snap, but I had my suspicious for a while before that.”

“I didn't work for Tony, I wasn't an Avenger.” Penelope defended, cursing herself at Josie’s smug smirk. “Shut up,” 

“So, you are?” 

Penelope sighed, running a hand through her hair. “Yeah,” Penelope said. “But you can't tell anyone, not even Lizzie.”

“I won't,” Josie assured, a little frown appearing on her brow. “What did you want to say if it wasn't that?” 

Penelope felt panic rise in her chest. “It doesn't matter, we should really get you home, it looks like it's about to rain.”

Penelope moved to walk past Josie, but Josie wrapped her fingers around her wrist. “No, tell me,” she said, pulling Penelope back around to face her. 

“Will you go out with me?” Penelope said before she could lose her nerve. “Like a date. Will you go on a date with me?” 

A slow smile pulled on Josie’s lips as she took a step toward her. “Where would you take me?” 

“Uh,” Penelope’s brain seemed to stop working completely and, stupidly, her first instinct was to put her suit on and ask Edith the best place to take a pretty girl. “I could take you to the top of the Empire State building.”

“Legally?” 

“The law is flexible.”

“It is very much not,” Josie laughed, bringing her hand up, her thumb tracing the small scar under Penelope’s eye, the only indication that Penelope had gone up against Thanos. “But a date sounds nice.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes,” Josie laughed. “Did you think I was going to say no?” 

“A little bit, yeah.”

Josie shook her head, “Come to my place, you can show me.”

Penelope frowned. “Show you what?” 

“The suit.”

And she did, showing Josie the suit and telling her about all the tech inside, before they settled on Josie's roof. 

“What happened?” Josie asked. “Those days you were gone, what happened?” 

Penelope knew the question was coming, but she still wasn't really prepared to answer it. 

“I ended up on that ship that showed up that day, and that took us to the planet Titan, which was Thanos’ home planet. We fought him, and we were  _ winning _ , then Peter Quill lost his cool and punched Thanos out of the dase Mantis had him in.” Penelope explained. “He didn't have all of the infinity stones by then, he was missing one, but he got that and snapped, his plan was to restore balance, his planet had been destroyed by overpopulation, he wanted to take out half of all living things.”

Penelope glanced over at Josie to see her watching her attentively. 

“He was in Wakanda, I think, when he snapped. I don't remember anything after that until I was back on Titan with Doctor Strange and he brought us to the fight on Earth. When we got there it was only Cap standing against this huge army of men.” Penelope ducked her head, her eyes welling up. “It was Tony who saved everyone. He  _ knew _ the gamma waves would kill him but he got the gauntlet and snapped, killing all of Thanos’ men and Thanos himself. But that wasn't the Thanos that killed us, they killed him, that was a Thanos from the past. They had to time travel to get all the stones to bring everyone back.”

“Time travel is a thing?” 

“Yeah, it's all to do with the quantum realm, Hope Van Dyne, Hank Pym and Ant-Man figured it out.” Penelope explained. “I know you didn't like him, Jo, but he had a  _ kid _ , and he sacrificed himself to save everyone. And no one realises that, you know? He still gets a tough time, and I get it he was a total dick, but he was a good man.”

When Penelope lifted her eyes to Josie she was nodding ever so slightly. “I believe it,” She said, reaching across to wipe away Penelope’s tears. “I knew there had to be a reason you were in his corner.”

“I loved him,” She admitted. “He was like a father to me.”

“I'm sorry,” Josie placed her hand on the back of Penelope’s. “I didn't realise you were so close.”

“I never told you.” Penelope shrugged. “It has been a lot, you know? All the stuff to deal in the city, I  _ watched  _ him die, a lot of other heroes either died or are off world, and I wasn't even an Avenger, dude, I just wanted to do the science part, and now everyone wanted me to be the next Iron-Man. I'm only sixteen, that shit is terrifying.”

Josie moved onto her side, running her finger tips up and down Penelope's arm. 

“I'm not good enough, I can't protect the plane from threats like Thanos, Jojo. I'm not them.”

“They couldn't do it alone, either, that's why you were drafted to help.” Josie said. “Everything needs help.”

“I don't have help. Carol is off world, Thor is with the Guardians, Tony is dead, Natasha, too. Clint is retired, T'challa is in Wakanda. Cap is retired. I don't know anything about the other heroes. The only one I know is here is Valkyrie, and she is busy with her own people, they had their entire world destroyed. And someone else is going to come, Jo, and Fury is going to come find  _ me _ , and I can't do what they did.”

“I believe you can, but it would be hard.” 

“Cap was a super soldier, Jo. Carol got her powers from an  _ infinity stone _ . Thor is a God. Natasha was a reared assassin. T'Challa is from a line of heroes. Valkyrie is, just that, a Valkyrie, the ones we know from Norse Myth.” Penelope rhymed off. “I'm just a kid who is kind of strong and a good skipper.”

“You also have a lot of heart.” Josie said. “Not just from what I know about Penelope Park, but I have seen you during the Battle of New York.”

“Heart doesn't measure up to what those guys had.”

“I think you're going to surprise yourself if something does happen.” Josie said, her eyes following her fingers as the trailed right up Penelope’s arm to her shoulder, then over her collarbone to her neck. And Penelope just watched her the entire time, a ghost of a smile pulling on her lips when Josie finally brought her eyes back to Penelope. “I hope nothing does happen, but not because I don't think you can do it, I know you can. I just want to keep you here, I don't want you going off into space again.”

“Yeah?” Penelope smiled, her eyes crinkling. 

“Yeah,” Josie smiled softly. “I like your feet planted firmly on Earth, preferably beside me.”

“I promise I will keep my feet here for as long as I can.”

“I will take it,” Josie hummed, the pad of her thumb tracing Penelope's jaw. “You can kiss me now, if you want.”

“I want,” Penelope nodded slowly, her eyes fluttering to Josie’s lips. “Are you sure? I know it seems like a good idea now but-” 

“I have thought about it, what it would be like dating you, a lot. The good and the bad.” Josie whispered. “And I want you to kiss me, Penelope Park.”

Penelope nodded softly, her hand landing on Josie’s hip as she leaned in, her nose grazing Josie’s, making the girl smile, her eyes flickering down to Penelope’s lips. 

“You're sweet, Penelope.” 

Penelope was about to close the gap when that incessant tingling in the back of her skull, making her head whip around. She would have laughed at Josie’s little huff if she wasn't watching a ship come barreling through the atmosphere. 

Penelope stood slowly, her eyes not leaving the trail. 

“What is that?” Josie whispered beside her. 

“I have no idea.” Penelope replied, pushing her necklace against her chest, only bringing up her mask. “Edith? What is that?” 

“According to records added by Miss Danvers that is a Star-Sled.”

“Who the fuck rides Star-sleds?” 

“Cosmic Santa?” Josie offered. 

“A few different species use this transport method.”

“Bad or good?” 

“Some good, some bad.” Edith said. “Also, Mr Fury wishes to talk with you.”

Penelope dropped her mask, turning to Josie with wide eyes. “The head of SHIELD is calling me.”

“Answer it?” 

“What?” Penelope frowned. “ _ No _ !” 

“You can't ghost the man who brought the Avengers together.” Josie said, shrugging when Penelope frowned at her. “What? I read Stark’s book, so what?” 

“I can't talk to him,” 

“Talk to him, he might just be checking in.”

“Checking in,” Penelope scoffed, her mask shifting back into place. “Answer.”

“Spider, we need you here. Now.”

“I'm kind of busy,” Penelope said, glancing at Josie, who gave her a bewildered look. 

“Busy? Oh, okay, sure. Just come over whenever you are ready.” 

“Really?” 

“No, there is a transport ship on the way now.” Fury deadpanned. 

“I'm with someone.”

“Do you want to bring them along?”

“No,” Penelope answered, rolling her eyes when a one person craft decloaked above her. 

“Good, there is no room anyway.”

Penelope deflated. “I gotta go,”

“I figured,”

“I wouldn’t have had to if you didn’t  _ make  _ me answer.” Penelope huffed. “If I hadn’t we could have relaxed.”

“He would have found you,”

“He wouldn’t have known where I am,”

“He sent a  _ drone  _ to exactly where you are.” Josie motioned to the craft. “Which is my house, by the way, which means they now know where  _ I  _ live.”

Penelope rolled her eyes. “Come see you when whatever this is is over?” 

“Okay,” 

Penelope smiled, her suit fixing completely in place. “I'll text you,” She said, before pulling herself into the craft. 

Nick was everything Penelope expected him to be, if not more terrifying. 

Apparently, they weren't sure what the craft, either, but, after recent events, they wanted to be safe. So, as soon as the craft was on the rader they called her in. 

“We need to be sure that you are ready to go if needed.” Fury said. “We might need you if this craft is bad.”

“Come on, dude, you can't just draft me in. I wasn't even an Avenger.”

“You were as good as,” Nick shrugged. “And you are about all we have available right now.”

Okay,  _ that  _ didn't make her feel any better. In fact, it pushed her pretty close to a panic attack. 

“I'm not a hero! I'm not like them, I told Tony this and I'm telling you. I'm  _ sixteen _ , you can't expect me to save the world.”

“Maybe you're not a hero, but, again, you are all we have.”

Nick didn't keep her much longer, warning her that if she went AWOL he would find her and there would be trouble, before letting her leave. 

Penelope thought about going to Josie’s but ended up at Hope’s place, hugging her as soon as she opened the door. 

“Hello to you, too.” Hope said, her arms hanging useless for a second before wrapping her arms around her. “What's up?” 

“We need to go to the lab, I think a new threat just showed up and I have plans for my suit, and I need to get them finished.”

Hope looked a little thrown for a second before grabbing her car keys. 

They spent most of the night working on Penelope’s new webbing, only taking a break after ten hours and Penelope electrocuting herself. 

Nothing happened that night, or the following day, or the day after that. 

Fury had figured it was a benign threat, but Penelope was still on edge, spending all of her time training in Tony’s holograph room, or in the lab working on her suits or projects, even at school she was hunched over files. 

Hope helped the best she could for the first four days, before trying to get Penelope to go home and  _ sleep _ , but Penelope didn't listen, so she called in reinforcements. 

Penelope was halfway inside a suit of armour, her upper body covered in grease and oil, her arms littered in little scraps and cuts, when Josie and Hope found her. 

“Penelope, I've brought food.” Hope announced.

“I'm not really hungry,” Penelope answered.

“You're eating it,” Josie ordered. 

The welding stopped, and Penelope peeked around the suit, her eyes landing on Josie before she looked at Hope incredulously. “You called _Josie_?” 

“You weren't listening, driving yourself mad, you need to sleep and eat.” Hope reasoned. 

“Besides, I'm here to help,” Josie shrugged, rolling up the sleeves of her hoodie. “I'm good with technology.”

“You want to help?” 

“What do you think I do while working for my mother? Look pretty.”

Penelope’s lips lifted in a crooked grin. “Amongst other things.”

Josie rolled her eyes and Hope fake gagged. 

“Eat, Penelope. Then go nap, Hope and I will take over, you've written down some pretty clean instructions.” Josie held up the paper Penelope had been scribbling on. 

“I'm almost done here,” 

“Then it shouldn't take you long when you wake up,” Josie said definitively, turning her back to Penelope, effectively ending the conversation. 

Penelope glanced at Hope, who had a look of amusement on her face. Penelope flipped her off before going to sit. 

They ended up spending every day after school in that lab, working hard on the suits of armour and making adjustments to Penelope's suit, adding a few more weapons to Edith. 

On the fifth day of that, the whole building shook, and Penelope quickly stood to attention. 

Penelope tapped her necklace, bringing up her mask. “Edith,” 

“There have been a few orchestrated attacks across the city, here, SHIELD HQ, the Avengers HQ, Pym labs.” Edith explained. “There doesn't seem to be an entity behind any of them other than Avengers HQ.”

“Call Mr Fury,” Penelope said, dropping the face of her mask and turning to Josie and Hope. “You guys should be okay here, whatever this is is at Avengers HQ.”

“You're leaving?” Josie frowned. 

“Park,” Nick’s voice came through her coms.

“I have to,” She said, shrugging as her suit snapped into place. “Get me on coms, okay?” Penelope hopped out the window, swinging toward HQ. “Something is attacking Avengers HQ.”

“Like that place hasn't had enough to deal with,” 

“Who is there right now?” Penelope asked. 

“No one,” Nick answered. “Lang is in Europe, Falcon and the winter soldier at AWOL, Wanda is God knows where.”

“Okay,” Penelope sighed. “So this is on me,” 

“According to satellites there is a ship nearby,” Hope’s voice came through. 

“Who the fuck is that?” Fury asked. 

“That's my Q,” Penelope answered, and there was a beat. “You know, like James Bond.”

“Think highly of yourself I see,” Josie said. 

“And I assume this is your M?” Fury grumbled.

“You  _ have  _ seen James Bond!” 

“Are you going there now?” Fury asked, ignoring her completely. 

“Yeah, I was kind of hoping someone else would be there to help.” Penelope said. “Is it the craft from a couple of weeks ago?”

“We aren't sure, we didn’t find anything from that craft.”

“Miss Park,” Edith said. “From CCTV footage, and the Star-sled, I can say with ninety nine point seven eight five percent accuracy that this is an entity called Ravenous.”

“Fucking who now?” Penelope asked, and she could make out Nick talking to someone on the other end, but she couldn't make out any of the words. 

“This is a creature Miss Danvers has cataloged, there is not much about him other than he is from the Negative zone and he gets his power from a creature called a Curr.”

“And is he going to kill me?”

“Penelope!” Josie scolded. 

“Would you like me to give you the statistics, Miss Park?” 

Penelope pondered that for a second. “You know what? No, let's leave it a surprise, love a good surprise.”

He didn't kill her, but he could have if he wanted to. 

Instead he beat her up outside, in front of everyone, on live TV, and Penelope knew he was making a point. 

She tried, using the new gadgets she had (even though none of them were finished) but he easily got the better of her, pummelling her into the ground. 

He was making a spectacle of her right there in Time Square, and the last thing Penelope remembered seeing was a young girl watching with wide, fearful eyes, marrying a shirt with her emblem on it. Penelope felt ashamed for not being able fight for this kid. 

All the fight had left her when Ravenous picked her up, slinging her over his. 

Penelope was in and out of consciousness, one minute she was at Time Square, the next she was at Avengers Tower, being dropped at the feet of Fury, Josie rushing to her side. 

“Penny?” she whispered, pulling Penelope to rest her head on her knee. 

“This is the best this planet had to offer.” Ravenous laughed. “This will be easier than I first thought.”

Then he was gone, and Penelope let her suit drop, revealing just how bloodied and bruised she was. 

She was having trouble breathing, her eyelashes fluttering as she looked up at Josie. “I tried, Jo.”

Josie nodded, a tight lipped smile pulling on her lips, her eyes damp. “You did really good, Penny.” she said. 

“I kinda wish he killed me, because I  _ hurt.” _

“You're going to be okay,” 

“We need to get her in the Cradle.” Fury ordered.

Penelope passed out again before she could get to the Cradle. 

She startled awake the following day, a sharp pain shooting through her side, but when she looked down the open wound that had been there was healed, the skin slightly lighter than the surrounding skin. 

“Hey,” Penelope's head snapped to the door, where Josie was standing. 

“What happened, where is he?” 

Josie shrugged, making her was closer. “We don't know,” Josie took a seat on the bed beside her. “How are you feeling?” 

“Like my insides are on fire, but my outsides are all healed up.” Penelope answered, bringing her hand up to push hair out of Josie's face, and Josie leaned into her hand. “Have you slept?” 

“I couldn't,” Josie whispered, turning to press a kiss to Penelope’s palm. “I was scared you wouldn't wake up.”

“I knew I wouldn't be good enough, this is what I've been saying.”

“This was nothing to do with your ability, Pen. This was lack of knowledge, Hope has been doing research, Nick called Captain Marvel. We have more information on him now.”

“I can't do that again, Jo,” Penelope frowned. “He almost  _ killed  _ me.”

Josie nodded, probably sensing Penelope's panic, placing a hand on Penelope's lower arm. “You need to rest,” 

“You do, too,” Penelope said. “Lay down with me?” 

Josie agreed, letting Penelope pull her in, her ear resting over people's chest, her hand over where the wound had been. She took comfort in the thunder of Penelope’s chest against her ribs. 

“He wants to destroy the planet, Jo. He told me.”

“He won't get the chance.” Josie said with an air of confidence, and Penelope almost believed her. Josie lifted her head to look up at her. “You look good, even all bruise.”

Penelope huffed out a laugh. “Give a girl a break before you hit on her.”

Josie rolled her eyes, her hand sliding up to Penelope's neck, then she leaned up to peck her on the lips. Before Penelope could react Josie was cuddled back up to her side.

So Penelope didn't bring it up, instead relaxing against the bed. 

She was feeling a lot better the following day but, apparently, Ravenous had been decimating important buildings all over New York, killing at least fifty people. 

Everyone thought the spider was dead, too. 

Penelope was kind of happy about that. 

“He is destroying buildings, people have died.” Fury said, and Penelope could still feel her ribs ache. 

“So call someone in.” Penelope said, Josie’s hand landing on her lower back. 

“You’re not suiting up?” 

“I can't,” Penelope shook her head. “He could have killed me if he wanted to, Fury.”

Fury eyed her for a few seconds before nodding. “Fine,” 

“Really?” Penelope frowned. 

“Sure,” Nick shrugged. “You obviously aren't ready, anyway. I don't understand what Stark saw in you, then again, he was a drunk so it would be easy enough for him to make a mistake.”

“Don't talk about him like that.” Penelope snapped, ignoring the pain in her side as she shot to her feet. “He  _ saved  _ you.”

“True,” Fury hummed. “But I think he made a mistake. Trusting  _ you  _ to save the world? You're not good enough, you're not ready.” Penelope felt a lump form in her throat and she looked down at her feet, feeling like a scolded child. “It was stupid of me to think you were, you can barely deal with petty crime, you aren't ready for this.”

“Hey, man!” Hope snapped. 

“Don't talk to her like that,” Josie stood quickly, placing a hand on Penelope's shoulder, but she shrugged it off.

“I'm not wrong, look how she is acting. People are  _ dying  _ and  _ she  _ could help, but she is sulking like a child.” Fury motioned to Penelope, who lifted her misty eyes to him. “He was wrong about you, you didn't deserve Edith, or to be an Avenger.”

“I've been telling you that.” Penelope said, sounding like a child as she spoke. 

“I guess I saw something in you, we all did, but you obviously aren't what we thought you were.” Nick shrugged, disinterested. “I will try and reach someone else, someone who can do the job.”

Penelope sniffed, her jaw working, then she turned and headed for the window, ignoring the girls calling after her as she pulled herself out of the window. 

She ended up at Avengers HQ, and ended up sitting down with Happy, who told her the exact opposite of what Fury had. 

He talked about Tony like no one ever had before, talking about him as a best friend. 

He told her about Tony’s struggled, the stuff he went through, and it kind of resonated with Penelope, and what was somewhat comforting was that even the great Tony Stark was unsure of himself. 

“He second guessed a lot of things, Penelope.” Happy offered her a little smile. “But never you. He wanted you as an Avenger, he said that the team would infinitely benefit from having you in it, but he respected your choice. And he was so excited to have someone of your caliber in the lab alongside him.”

Penelope looked down at her hands, her eyes welling up again. 

“He was unwavering in his confidence in you, he knew what you were capable of, and I think you reminded him a lot of himself, without the emotional baggage.” Happy laughed. “But he would never force this life on anyone. So, go out there, fight that guy, or go home and have dinner with your mother.”

Penelope found herself sitting on the roof after their talk, scowling through her phone. 

Seeing the comments online, the videos, the pure desperation throughout the state, and the world, was what got Penelope to suit up again. She wasn't going to let Tony’s death be in vain, as he always said, the only thing that is going to destroy this world is us humans, not some alien.

Hope looked worried, and Josie looked proud when she emerged in her suit. 

“Carol said if the Curr is destroyed you have a window of time where he is weak.” Fury said. 

“And where is the Curr.” Penelope asked.

“In the Negative Zone,”

“Sure, I will just travel there.” Penelope huffed. 

“You will just have to beat him like he is now.”

“I  _ can't.”  _ Penelope snapped, turning to head for the door. “But I know how I can.” 

“Where are you going?” Josie asked. 

“To take on a dude who gets his powers from a source we don't understand.” Penelope shot back. “I need to stop him from hurting people.”

Ravenous was easy enough to find, he was currently tearing through the town hall, his lips turning up into a horrific grin at the sight of her. “You.”

“Can we try and talk about this?” Penelope offered. 

Ravenous laughed. “This has to be done, child.”

Penelope nodded. “Edith, scan for any radiation.”

Her vision was shades of blue, a soft green glow coming from Ravenous, but the green was brighter at his chest, where a necklace was, a red stone encased in metal. 

“That's it,” Penelope whispered. “Fury, I think I know where he is getting his power.” Penelope said, webbing Ravenous’s axe to the wall before laying a few hits into him, but he easily batted her away. 

“The Curr,” 

“Sure,” Penelope groaned as she hopped to her feet. “But he is lightyears from those creatures I think the gem in his necklace is giving him his power this far from the creature.”

Fury hummed in her ear, and Penelope hopped around to dodge his attacks, trying to gauge her next move. 

“Destroy it.” Hope said. “Edith's stats say its alpha rays, it shouldn't hurt you in that suit.”

So that was her next move. She dodged his attacks as best she could, using her webbing to keep him in place while sending the drones after the gem, that eventually shattered under the onslaught of bullets. 

“It will probably regenerate.” Hope said, “The Curr creatures do, so you have to work fast.”

And she tried, throwing everything at him, and it did seem to be effecting him, but he was still getting hits in, which would shake her to her core. 

She managed to get him to his knees, using the time to catch her breath. 

Her moment didn't last, because, while he was weaker, he was still stronger than she was, punching her square in the chest, throwing her a few feet. 

She had barely stumbled to her feet when there was another hard thump against her chest sending her through a nearby wall, skidding along to floor until she was stopped by the next wall. 

“Penelope?” Hope’s voice sounded through the coms, followed by Josie. 

“Your vitals are at a dangerous level.”

Penelope placed her palms against the cool floor, letting her forehead rest there while she caught her breath, before using every ounce of strength she had to push herself to her feet, favouring her right leg as she straightened, something definitely fractured in her left leg. 

“You need to get out of there, Pen.” Hope ordered. “You're hurt.”

“So is he.” Penelope said, switching to her electric webbing. “But not for much longer, and he won't let me near the Curr gem again.”

“You’re going to get yourself killed.” Fury said. 

“Edith,” Penelope said, hating how childlike she sounded, even to her own ears. Her eyes finding the gem in Ravenous chest, which had partially regenerated. 

“Yes, Miss Park?”

“Activate project Junior.”

“Are you sure miss Park?” Edith asked. “Not all of the suits are finished, some don't even have weapons.”

“All suits are a distraction I could us.” Penelope reasoned, watching Ravenous as he advanced on her.

“Okay, Miss Park. Project Junior activated. ”

“Park, are you activating a project derived from Ultron?” Fury asked. 

“I am.”

“That is too dangerous.” Fury argued.

“I need  _ help!”  _ Penelope snapped. “I'm not a super soldier, or a God, or whatever Carol Danvers is. I'm a sixteen year old kid in an expressive suit with access to the world's most dangerous defense system.” Penelope said. “And I’m going to use it.”

Penelope turned off her coms then, just avoiding Ravenous attack and pulling herself out the window to the roof of the building.

“Edith?” 

“Miss Park?”

“If I die can you ask Happy to look after my family, please? And tell Hope I couldn’t have done any of this without her.” Penelope asked. “And- And tell Josie that I- just that I really liked her?”

“All of that has been logs, Miss Park, and will be sent to Happy if required.”

“Thank you, Edith.” She said. “You got any big ideas on how to get rid of this guy?” 

“My suggestion would be to destroy the Curr gem, which you have done, now it is just incapacitating him before it regenerates.” Edith said. “I have contacted the Nova Corp, they are on their way to pick him up, they have a facility they can hold him in.”

“We've been cool if they could have come and helped, but, sure, leave a category one threat to a sixteen year old.”

“Seventeen in a few days, Miss Park.” Edith said, but Penelope was distracted by Ravenous, who had just came through the roof, jumping a few feet in the air. “Is there anything you would like, Miss Park? From Mr Stark’s funds, of course.”

“Talk later, Edith.” she said, turning off Edith and her coms back on just as Ravenous landed a few feet in front of her. 

“What the fuck, Pen?” Josie’s voice snapped. “Don't do that again.”

“I haven't seen resilience like yours, child. I respect that.” Ravenous said. 

“I can't let you destroy Earth, I won't.”

“You think you can stop me? I am the leader of the Annihilation Wave force.”

“Yeah? And I'm the friendly neighbourhood Spider, who do you think has more power?” Ravenous gave her a look. “You, duh, but you will have to kill me if you want to do anything to hurt this planet and the shitty people on it.”

“Shame,” Ravenous said, readying his axe. “You don't get spirit like yours in a lot of warriors.”

“Edith?” Penelope jumped when Ravenous came running at her, webbing him on the face, the electricity seeming to startled him. But not much more. “How long for the suits?” 

“Sixty three seconds, ma’am.”

Penelope kept Ravenous busy, taking more than a few hits in the process. He had her by the throat, dangling over the side of the building when the suits appeared, some missing arms, half their faces, the chest plates, but there were at least twenty. 

A grin pulled on her lips, bloodied and a little crooked, one of her eyes swollen shut. She used the distraction to wiggle free, swinging herself around Ravenous rolling a few feet away from him, skidding on her knees. 

“Edith, use everything they have on Ravenous.” 

The suits started shooting him, or at least the ones with weapons did, the others started punching, kicking, anything they could, and Penelope took a minute to catch her breath. 

“Penny?” 

“Jo?” 

“You can do this,” Josie said. “The part of me that loves you is telling me to tell you to leave, but I know you can't. You can  _ do  _ this. He's weak right now, his power came from that gem but yours? Yours has always been that fucking stubbornness.”

Penelope laughed. “When I'm done here you owe me a proper kiss.”

“You can have as many as you want, Park.”

Penelope grinned, her eyes surveying the scene, trying to figure out her next move. Then she noticed it, his axe held up in front of him to deflect the blasts. 

“Edith, when I say now, direct the suits to his legs, get him on his back.”

Edith gave conformation while Penelope ran toward Ravenous, webbing his axe and sticking it to his chest, blade first, before swinging around a nearby pole for momentum. 

“Now,” 

The suits focused on his legs, and he started to stumble backwards, Penelope's feet finding the end of the axe and she drove him into the ground, then the axe into his chest, pulling a horrible, gargled howl from him. 

Penelope stumbled off of him, landing on her back with a thud, her chest heaving. “Edith?” her voice cracked, and she didn't even realise she was crying until that moment, but who could blame her, this was her last shot. “Is he dead?” 

“Dying, ma'am.” Edith answered. “Nova Corp just breached the atmosphere, they will be here in a few seconds.”

“Keep the suits around him, just in case, after he is taken, send them home.” She said. “Mr Fury, sir?” 

“Park,” 

“Can you come pick me up?” 

“Look up,” 

Penelope opened her eyes in time to see a SHIELD craft uncloak itself. She couldn't stop the sigh of relief that left her lips. “Thank god.”

She used her last bit of strength to pull herself into the craft, Hill catching her when she almost crumbled to her knees. 

She offered Penelope a little smile when she clung to her. “You did good out there, kid.”

“Can I have a nap?” 

Maria laughed lightly. “There are pods over there.”

“This is fine,” Penelope fell onto the sofa, ignoring the pain that surged through her and the fact her suit was still up. “Jo?” she breathed. 

“You did it,” Josie said, and Penelope couldn't stop the little smile that tugged on her lips. “I'm so proud of you.”

“Thank you,” she managed to get out before crashing. 

She wasn't sure how long she was out, but when she woke up, she was still on the sofa, and the ship wasn't moving. Her suit was gone and something was running through her hair. 

She tilted her head back to see Josie watching her with a soft smile. “Hey,” 

“Is he gone?” 

“Nova Corp took him,” Josie said. “Said they could use someone like you on their fleet, then saw you sprawled out on the sofa drooling.”

Penelope laughed, groaning as she turned onto her back. 

Josie let her fingers ghost along the cuts and bruises littering her face. “I thought I was going to lose you.”

“Nah,” Penelope waved her hand. “I may as well have been bitten by a radioactive cockroach, I'm not going anywhere.”

“He was what you were worried about, he was the bigger threat you didn't think you could take on on your own, but you did.”

“It took everything out of me, Jo.” Penelope breathed. 

“But now you know you're good enough, and you  _ are _ , Penny.”

Penelope hummed, groaning as she pushed herself up to sit. “ _ Fuck,  _ I hurt.” Penelope clutched her side as she struggled to breathe.

“Are you okay?” 

“I can't  _ do  _ that again!” Penelope snapped as she shot to her feet, almost buckling at the pain down shooting down her side and legs, bending at the waist to hug her abdomen. “I can't,” her voice broke as she spoke, looking up at Josie with tearful eyes. “I was so scared, Josie.”

“Hey,” Josie whispered, taking a step toward Penelope, reaching out to cup her cheek. 

“Don't tell me it's all going to be okay, or that I can do that again. It's not, Josie. They are going to  _ keep coming.” _ Penelope quickly took a step backward. “And it is down to  _ me  _ to protect everyone.”

“Pen,” Josie started cautiously, moving closer again, taking Penelope's hand. “We will work on better suits, we will find a better defence system, we will build you gadgets.” Josie said. “ _ We _ will help you, you aren't doing this alone.” 

Penelope lifted her eyes to Josie, who caught the few tears that fell with her knuckle.

Josie could see the pain in her eyes, the  _ fear _ , and it broke her heart. “I know I'm no Captain Marvel, or Thor, but I'm in your corner, Pen. Always.”

Penelope nodded slowly. “Can I go home?” 

“Of course,” Josie agreed, offering her hand to Penelope. “Let's go.”

They checked in with Fury before Happy drove them home. 

Her mother almost hugged her, before noticing she was clutching her side, she stopped caressing her daughters face, which made Penelope break down completely, crumbling against her mother who held her tight, whispering calming words into her ear. 

Josie took Odie to his room while Penelope sobbed on the floor in her mother's arms. 

She was exhausted by the time she finally got to her room, curling up against Josie side. Her eyes were drooping but something in her wouldn't let her sleep, starling her awake. 

Until Josie slide down, pulling Penelope against her chest, Penelope’s forehead against her collarbone, her arms wrapped securely around her body. 

Then she started singing, and Penelope felt that darkness in her chest dampen slightly at the sound. 

Penelope slept well into the afternoon of the following day, and, for the most part, there was just darkness, then the nightmares started. 

She startled awake, panting and sweaty, her chest thigh. 

After she realised it was a dream, she fell back against her mattress trying to calm her thundering heart.

Once she felt like she could breathe properly she moved to sit on the edge of her bed, taking a minute to ready herself to deal with her mother and brother before forcing herself to her feet, her legs still seeming to shake as she trudged toward the living room. 

She was just outside her room when she registered another voice. 

“I'm glad she had you through all this,”

Penelope had expected it to Hope her mother was speaking to. 

“I care about her a lot, Miss Park.” Josie said, “And I will be there for her however she needs me, but she will need professional help.”

Vanessa snorted. “Good luck getting her to do that.” 

“Yeah,” Josie hummed.

Penelope decided she wasn't going to eavesdrop on their conversation anymore, making. Her steps a little louder than they normally would have to alert them that she was there, both women turning to her with a little smile. 

“Hey, sweetie.” Her mother greeted. “I'm heading out to work soon, will you be patrolling tonight?”

“I think I'm going to give myself a break for a few days, ma.” Penelope said, sitting on her mom's seat when she stood. 

“That sounds like a good idea,” she agreed, dipping down to kiss Penelope on the forehead. “Do you want me to drop Odie off at the childminder, if you need a break?”

“No, leave him here, we will hang out, play some video games.”

“Okay, Penny.” her mother grabbed her bag, giving Josie’s shoulder a little squeeze. “You kids behave yourself, okay?” 

“Ma,” Penelope huffed, rolling her eyes when her mother cackled as she left the room. 

The front door has just clicked closed when the sound of loud footsteps came in the hallway. Then Odie appeared, eyes wide and a large smile on his lips. 

“Penny!” he cheered, skipping to his sister and jumping into her arms. Penelope managed to suppress the groan of pain that bubbled in her chest, smiling at her brother. “You're awake,  _ finally _ , I've been waiting.”

“You could have woken me up,” 

“Momma told me not to, and Jo said you needed so much sleep because you did something really amazing, she wouldn't say what.” Odie explained, pulling back, his little hands on Penelope's face, a worried look appearing as he looked over the cuts and bruising. “Did you beat someone up?” 

“No, bud, I got into a fight with a door.” Penelope lied. “Don't worry, I won.”

Odie accepted that, leaning into Penelope. 

“You both hungry?” Josie asked, motioning to the oven. “There is lasagna in the oven.”

“Sure, I will help, and Odie will go pick a movie for us to watch.” Penelope placed the boy on his feet and kicking his butt. “Nothing scary, bud.”

“We can eat this then I can leave, if you want.” Josie offered as Penelope moved to stand alongside her. 

“I don't want you to leave,” Penelope assured, her hand finding Josie’s hip. 

Josie nodded, ghosting her fingers across the bruise down the left side of her face. “I'm so proud of you, Penelope.”

“I don't really know  _ what  _ to do now, Jo.”

“Nothing, if you don't want to. You can go back to patrolling, or retire completely and just work on ways to protect everyone in the lab.” Josie said. “You're under no obligation, Pen.”

“I will go back to patrolling,” Penelope said. “I will need to work on better security systems.”

“I worked on some plans over the past few days, we can go over them when you're ready.” Josie offered. “But, right now, I want to eat then kick both of yours asses at Mario Kart.”

Penelope didn't go back to patrolling for a week or so, but she went back to the lab the following day with Hope and Josie. 

She was on edge, waiting for the next attack, anything out of the ordinary happened she was on edge, waiting for something big to happen. 

She realised after a few weeks that she couldn't live like that, she was pushing Josie away, Hope away, she hadn't spent time with her family because she was either in the lab or patrolling. 

She decided  _ this  _ wasn't going to be her life. 

Josie was, thankfully, in her room when she landed on her balcony, a large smile blooming on her lips when she spotted Penelope. 

“Hey, are you-” Josie didn't get the chance to finish because Penelope was kissing her. 

This was their first  _ real _ kiss, Penelope had been so busy that they hadn't even talked about what they were to each other. 

Josie squeaked in surprise when their lips met, her hands landing on Penelope's chest to balance herself when Penelope wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her against her. 

“That's a greeting I could get used to,” Josie murmured when they parted. 

Penelope laughed softly, her forehead resting against Josie's. “Sorry, I have wanted to do that for so long. And I know I've been really busy, but not anymore.” Penelope promised. “Tony once told me about how Iron-Man had a huge strain on his relationships, and I don't want that to be me.”

Josie nodded slowly. “Come in,” 

There were times that she had to rush off during a date, or cancel a date completely, but being the spider wasn't her entire life, and she was happy about that. 

After a year of  _ waiting  _ for something to happen, she started to relax a little. She still had nightmares, she didn't believe they would ever go away, but talking to Happy helped, and she had a good talk with Valkyrie one night that was nice, it was nice to talk to someone who was there about it all. 

And Josie was incredibly patience with her, not once taking any of her outbursts to heart. 

She had known she was falling in love with Josie since the beginning, but she felt like she needed a second opinion. 

They were at the beach with Odie and Josie’s new puppy, Josie and Odie rolling around on the sand with the dog while Penelope relaxed a few feet away, lying on her front as she watched them, a soft smile on her lips. 

She put the glasses on as Odie clambered onto Josie, who laughed loudly. “Hey, Edith?” 

“Miss Park?” 

“What's it like being in love?” 

“I cannot tell you from experience, Miss Park, I am an AI but, according to researchers symptoms include: not being able to get them out of your head, you get a rush similar to that of a cocaine user, you will do anything to make them happy, you stare at them a lot. Oh, and your heart beats will synchronise.”

Penelope laughed. “Thank you, Edith.”

“Are you in love, Miss Park?” Edith asked. “Do you need to tell you what you should do next?” 

“I am, Edith,” Penelope hummed, offering Josie a tender smile and a little wave when Josie glanced over at her, Odie slung playfully over her shoulder. Josie flashed her that tooth smile, and Penelope felt herself fall a little deeper. “And that's okay, I will figure it out.”

“Is it Miss Josie? Because I have logged how she looks at you, Miss Park, and it is consistent with how those in love look at their object of affection.” 

“That's kind of creepy, dude.”

“It is what I am programmed to do.”

“Might need to change that,” Penelope said, sliding off the glasses as Josie fell down beside her. “Hey, Jojo.”

Josie smiled, a little breathless as she pressed her lips to Penelope's. “Hey, baby.” she grinned, before pointed to Odie, who was still running about. “That kid is just a bag of energy.”

“Yeah, sometimes  _ I  _ find it hard to keep up with him.”

Josie hummed, resting her head against Penelope's shoulder. “What were you and Edith talking about?”

“You,” Penelope answered easily. 

“Oh, yeah?” Josie kinked an eyebrow. “Those criminal convictions were overturned.”

“Is that right?” Penelope laughed, and Josie hummed, leaning closer to kiss Penelope. 

There was a tingle in the back of her head, and Penelope lifted her hand in a flash to grab the ball just before it hit them, her lips still firmly planted on Josie's. 

“Sorry, Penny!” Odie called and Josie laughed as she pulled away, her forehead resting against Penelope's shoulder. 

“Be careful, dude,” she threw the ball back at him, but it was intercepted by the puppy. 

Josie lifted her head, a smile pulling on her lips as she stared at Penelope. 

“What?” Penelope asked, a smile of her own pulling on her lips. 

Josie's lips parted, but she didn't speak for another few seconds, just openly staring at Penelope. “I love you.”

“Yeah?” Penelope replied in a whisper, a slow smile pulling on her lips when Josie nodded. “I love you.”

Josie grinned bashfully, ducking her head, a soft laugh escaping her lips. 

Penelope placed a kiss on her temple, “I couldn't have done all of this without you, Jojo.” Penelope admitted in a whisper. “I hope you know how much I appreciate everything you've done.”

Josie lifted her head, kissing Penelope on the cheek before planting a slow kiss on her lips. “I'm in your corner, always. Regardless of what you choose to do.”

“I've heard of a few kids in Cali that have powers, and others littered all over the States and the world.” Penelope said. “I think- I don't know, what Tony gave me was invaluable. I want to do that for other people.”

“Are you saying you want to start up your own teen Avengers?” 

“No, not really. I'm thinking about starting up a safe space. A school, maybe? But not a school, because I can't teach anyone anything but, like- I mean, I dunno, I haven't thought too much into it.” Penelope shrugged, digging her fingers into the sand and letting it run through. “A place to make people better, I suppose, to support them and help them train. To try and make sure they don't go bad, or end up dead.”

Josie was smiling sweetly at her, adoration shining in her eyes. “I think that's a good idea. Tony would love that.”

“Yeah, I really think he would.” Penelope hummed. “I don't know, I just heard about those kids in Cali and thought how shitty that would feel to be a Runaway with your own parents as the bad guys.”

“That would be a really good thing to do, and I'm sure Pepper would agree.” Josie said.

Penelope nodded, it was definitely something she planned on thinking over a little more before bringing it up. 

“But, for now, let's play with the pups before we need to go home.” Josie quickly pecked her on the lips before hopping to her feet and running off. And Penelope watched her for a few seconds, a little smile on her lips before going after her, scooping Josie up over her shoulder and grabbing Odie around the waist, carrying them both toward the water. 

  
  



End file.
